Persons who have suffered injuries or trauma are typically transported on a stretcher by Emergency Medical System (EMS) personnel from a scene of an accident or trauma-related event to a hospital for treatment. Some precautions are currently taken to protect against spread of certain conditions from an injured person. For example, EMS personnel and other medical care providers take precautions, such as by wearing latex gloves, to protect themselves against inadvertent spread from the injured person of blood-borne pathogens, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As is known, blood-borne pathogens are transmitted only through direct contact with the injured person's blood. That is, the blood-borne pathogens do not become airborne.
However, a person in need of transport to a hospital for treatment (hereinafter, a “patient”) may have been contaminated with an airborne agent. For example, the contaminated patient may have been exposed to a nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) agent, such as without limitation radioactive contamination, chicken pox virus, smallpox virus, anthrax virus, or chemical reagents such as chlorine products or other toxins. NBC agents become airborne, and therefore can spread contamination readily if they are not contained.
Transporting and treating a contaminated patient presents several issues. For example, EMS personnel initially treat the patient at the scene and enroute to the hospital. Therefore, EMS personnel and a vehicle in which the contaminated patient is transported may become contaminated. Further, the hospital where the contaminated patient is treated, as well as medical care providers who treat the contaminated patient at the hospital, may also become contaminated.
It would be desirable to prevent spread of contamination from a contaminated patient. However, there are not any containment devices for a contaminated patient of which the applicant is aware that are compact, lightweight, and easy to use. Therefore, there is an unmet need in the art for a containment device for a contaminated patient.